Bocuare Haven Tour dilemma?

[vacruizer]

Don't laugh too much at this one.

 

I found a few threads that mentioned this tour but not many. We finally decided we'd like to try this tour as it sounds wonderful, but DH is very worried that the lunch involves beans and rice (which he hates) and that he will offend the proprietors if he doesn't eat that part of lunch.

 

I know is sounds strange, but can anyone elaborate on how lunch is served and if not eating beans and rice would be a problem? He really wants to be gracious and not offend the hosts of the tour or plantation owners in any way. Should we book another tour without lunch since everything in this part of the world includes beans and rice? Lunch sounds yummy to me but I am a picky eater in my own ways so at least I understand his issue. I know it seems silly to consider another tour for this reason but it's really bothering him.

 

Thanks!

[diggitydog]

We were on this Costa Rican tour Wed., April 16 of '08 and it wasted our whole time in Costa Rica as an excurrsion offered on the Carnival Liberty.

You get taken to an open restaurant at a farm and eat beans & rice while bats huddle above you in the rafters. Then you get to watch the farmer's daughter dance and shreik like a parrot. Then you walk on mowed and manicurred paths around a stagnant little pond and spend ten minutes at a crack listening to the guide describe plants that you'll find at any Walmart or Lowes. The boredom was absolutely EXCRUCIATING!!!

I walked back in disgust and was soon joined by others that just couldn't believe that THIS was our Costa Rican "rainforest" experience. I asked the guide why we didn't see waterfall's and such as shown in the advertisement and were told that would be on one of their "other" tours - the "Bocuare ADVENTURE".. I saw two chickens, the bats and one hummingbird.

Nearly everyone tried to get their money back from Carnival - to no avail.

IT WAS REALLY DISMAL!!! :eek:

[vacruizer]

We found the exact opposite - this was the highlight of our trip and made us want to spend a week or more in Costa Rica. Our guide was an experienced biologist and especially knowledgeable about birds - setting up his scope and pointing out many things to us. My husband is a professional gardener and holds a horticulture degree - our guide was able to answer almost all his questions about the plant life. I don't know about your local Lowe's or Walmart, but mine certainly don't have Cacao trees, ornamental ginger with colors so vibrant you can't believe it, sugar cane plants, cashew trees, palms of all varieties -the list goes on.

 

Are you sure you read the description of this tour before going? We found the tour to be exactly as advertised in Carnival's literature. We took a van about an hour into the hills while our guide talked to us about Costa Rica in general and we enjoyed the scenery and stopped briefly to look at some banana trees. We hiked through the forest for almost two hours at a leisurely pace - all while our guide talked to us in great depth about the plants and birds were were seeing. I have pictures of 5 egrets together in a tree, saw many hummingbirds, an alligator, a gorgeous red frog, a toucan, and many others I don't remember. The plants and the scenery were spectacular. The hike was easy compared to what's around us here in the Appalachians, but the overall terrain was pretty similar. But the plants were like nothing we have here.

 

We were then taken by a tractor driven wagon to the top of a hill, served pineapple juice from pinapples grown on the farm that was so sweet they mixed it with lemon to cut the sweetness. The pavilion had hammocks, tables, and incredible views of the surrounding mountains and valley. After that we rode down to a sugar cane press - I got a great photo op when my husband went up to actually work the press for the sugar cane. I sampled the juice as I'd never had real sugar cane - but it was way too sweet for me. Once back at the main pavilion we washed up, helped make tortillas in the kitchen, and enjoyed a great lunch of stewed chicken, beans & rice, veggies, the tortillas we had made, and more of that delicious pineapple juice. Yes, one of the daughters performed a traditional dance for us - I thought it was charming. Several of the girls are just learning English and are a little unsure of their skills but are getting there. Smile and say "gracias" for something and you will see a smile bigger than you have ever seen on anyone. We truly felt like honored guests to this family. The mother cooked our lunch over a wood stove in the kitchen - a kitchen so clean you could eat off the floor. The hummingbirds flitted around during lunch but we didn't see any bats. But we do have those all over our yard here at home in the evenings, though.

 

Sorry you didn't like the tour, but a guided tour of the farm (which was clearly listed as a family ranch in the Carnival literature) was exactly what we got. I think maybe you turned back before you reached the forest - the first part of the walk is on lawn type grounds after which you enter the forest and more "hiking" style trails. I don't remember seeing any mention of waterfalls on the tour so I wasn't expecting any.

 

By the way - my husband had no issues with the meal and just worked around the beans and rice. I thought they were some of the best I've ever had.

[vacruizer]

 

 

 

 

 

Just a few of the over 100 pics I took that day.

[diggitydog]

We don't have fancy horticultural degrees but we do have an exotic fruit orchard here in SW Florida with rare varieties of Mango, Atemoya, Cherimoya, Avocado etc. Presently we have Pineapple & Sugar Cane also and have tried growing Cacau from Cuba, the medium sized football shape variety which didn't do well here. And yes, our local Walmart and Lowes carries most of what they have on the grounds at Bocuare. Often we get our varieties at Echo, which is online as well as nearby for us. Maybe we're jaded and expected something we havn't seen all too many times but there is no reason that some of these plants couldn't have been mentioned in passing without stopping the group for ten minutes or so at each plant. Maybe if I was down from winter in the Appalachians I'd have been equally transfixed and would have ravenously wolfed down the beans & rice had I not noted the bats hanging above the picnic tables. The van driver asked me if I could identify the 3 mysterious eggs they found in the planter that morning because he said they were like eggs they've never seen. They were chicken eggs, just like our Rhode Island Reds lay. I told him so & that if he really wanted to fool Gringo's he should use Araucanas as they lay blue, green & brown eggs that look more like Jungle flowl.

The group consensus was a big flat F for the tour though I didn't speak to everyone afterward. I probably spoke to over half the group in the remaining days and mostly they approached us to ask if we were successful in getting out money back, as they were not either. But to each their own I guess. ;)

[vacruizer]

In case anyone else is considering this tour - here's the description from Carnival - no waterfalls or rainforest mentioned - but it's still a great tour.

 

http://www.carnival.com/ShoreExcursionDetails.aspx?portcode=LMO&excursionname=Nature+%26+Traditions+at+Bocuare+Haven&excursioncode=515032

[Kevin's girl]

Hoping to revive this thread. We are booked for this tour in March, has anyone done it since 2008? I would love to hear more about it.

[RumRunner01]

We are considering doing this one on Celebrity Equinox in January and would like to know if anyone else has input. I certainly don't want an experiience like diggitydog, but vacruizer's description sounds nice. The tour through Celebrity is called "Bird & Nature at Bucuare Jungle Haven".

[Kevin's girl]

Lunch was served buffet style. No one will be hurt if he skips any part of the lunch. You will also have a chance to make your own tortilla with the momma is the kitchen. It was great fun. Here is a pic from our lunch. The plantains are always my favorite.

 

[pilotdane]

I'm glad to see you picked Imperial over Pilsen for your lunch.

[Kevin's girl]

Is this a favorite of yours? I must admit that prior to this day and this excursion I was not a beer drinker. It was the year I turned 50 and I learned I liked the taste, it must have been the Imperial.

[scapel]

Don't laugh too much at this one.

 

I found a few threads that mentioned this tour but not many. We finally decided we'd like to try this tour as it sounds wonderful, but DH is very worried that the lunch involves beans and rice (which he hates) and that he will offend the proprietors if he doesn't eat that part of lunch.

 

I know is sounds strange, but can anyone elaborate on how lunch is served and if not eating beans and rice would be a problem? He really wants to be gracious and not offend the hosts of the tour or plantation owners in any way. Should we book another tour without lunch since everything in this part of the world includes beans and rice? Lunch sounds yummy to me but I am a picky eater in my own ways so at least I understand his issue. I know it seems silly to consider another tour for this reason but it's really bothering him.

 

Thanks!

 

Make a couple of sandwichs on the ship and bring them in case you don't like the meal or maybe just miss a meal. On a cruise, missing a meal shouldn't hurt.

[vacruizer]

Make a couple of sandwichs on the ship and bring them in case you don't like the meal or maybe just miss a meal. On a cruise, missing a meal shouldn't hurt.

 

We actually did this tour back in 2007 after I asked this question and everything turned out great! It's still one of my favorite tours of all time.